The Georgia Bulldogs Baseball Update

Yes, I know the basketball coaching search just went nuclear, but we’ll know what we know when we know it, and, until then, we’re all just guessing. As Quinton McDawg has pointed out, though, we know for certain that the Diamond Dogs are entering the meat of their schedule, starting with tonight’s tilt against Clemson.

Although often slighted, baseball is the oldest varsity sport in which Georgia competes (Alex Cunningham was hired as the Red and Black’s baseball and football coach after he brought his Gordon team to Athens for a baseball game in the spring of 1910; one of the players for the Barnesville institution that day was Bob McWhorter) and Sunday’s victory over Tennessee gave the Diamond Dogs their 2,000th win since beginning intercollegiate competition in 1886.

Rich Poythress, who long will be remembered in the lore of the King household as "The Dirty Helmet Guy" (the moniker my son gave to Poythress whenever the Bulldog first baseman came up to bat during last year’s College World Series), captured National and S.E.C. Player of the Week honors and Georgia retains the No. 1 national ranking in three polls.

More importantly, the Classic City Canines stand atop the S.E.C. East with a 7-2 conference record, one game in front of Florida (6-3). Georgia’s next two home series are against L.S.U. (6-3) this weekend and against Arkansas (8-1) on the weekend of April 17-19. The Diamond Dogs also get the Gators at Foley Field from May 1-3, with road dates against Ole Miss (5-4) from April 24-26.

Go ‘Dawgs!